Made for this World
by gillyflower34
Summary: Companion piece to The Lady Claimers, takes place before that story begins. The story of how Katie and Roberta met and the details of what happened to Katie's husband.
1. Chapter 1

**** This story is a companion piece to my TWD/Znation crossover story, The Lady Claimers. It takes place before that story begins. Some of the characters also appear in my story Claiming Woodbury. As always read, enjoy and review. ****

Katie had her jacket on and her rifle slung across her back. She was standing in the living room, feeding her small son one more time before they left. Six weeks was how long it had been since the televisions stopped broadcasting. The people who ran the stations had finally either run for it or been killed.

Shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other, Katie's husband watched her feeding their son. He felt for the weapons he was carrying. Weapons he really had no idea how to use. Maybe he wouldn't have to use them. Or that's what he kept telling himself at least. He looked at his wife, how her short blonde hair fell forward, blocking one of her blue eyes from his view. In her arms she held their miracle baby. The one that doctor after doctor told her she would never be able to have.

There had to be balance in the world. Or that is what Davis believed. God had given them their baby. But then the end of the world had come and replaced Davis's happiness with fear. In his darker moments, Davis felt like he was paying for all the years of happiness he had with Katie that he had done nothing to deserve. Shaking those thoughts away, he crossed the small space between himself and the two people he loved most in this world.

"Are you sure both of us should go," Davis asked his wife, stroking the fine blonde hairs on his son's head as he watched Katie feed the boy from her breast. "I could stay with him." Katie heard her uncle snort. She flicked her eyes up, giving the big red haired man a look that told him he better mind his own fucking business and stay out of her marriage. Katie had married her husband because he was the most kind and gentle man she had ever known. He was not a fighter. And that had never seemed important to her. Until now.

"We need you with us," Katie reminded him. "Gran can watch over him until we get back." If anyone ought to be staying here with her son, it ought to be her. But she was one of the only people in the group that was halfway decent with a gun. So she was going. Katie had given her husband a quick lesson, but they couldn't spare what little ammo they had on shooting practice.

Her son had finally drifted off to sleep in her arms. So Katie handed him off to her grandmother and adjusted her shirt. The woman said nothing to her. But she touched her reassuringly on the arm and looked into her eyes. Holding her glance for a moment, Katie could feel all the things that passed unsaid between them. Be careful. I will. If anything happens... I will take care of him like he was my own. I love you. I love you too.

"Ready to go?," Katie's sister asked her. Katie leaned down, giving her son one more soft kiss before she forced herself to turn away from him and head for the door. She had never been away from her baby before, and she tried to hold back the hot tears that she felt welling up inside her. Without a word, her sister grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into a rough embrace.

"You will be back before he even wakes up," Mandy told her. Katie nodded. She didn't want to think about the alternative. That she might die out there and never see her son again was too horrible an idea to even entertain. Katie swallowed back the lump in her throat. She made herself think about all the people here that were counting on her. People that needed the food and medicine that she was risking her life to go out and get. She hugged her sister back, and then pushed away. Mandy smiled when she saw the determined look on Katie's face.

"Let's get this over with," Katie said, adjusting the large knife on her belt. The two women followed their Uncle outside with Davis trailing reluctantly behind them. Katie could almost smell the fear coming off the man. She was starting to have regrets about bringing him along already. But they needed him. He was the one that knew the names of all the medications that they needed and the alternate types of things that could replace those if they had been cleaned out. No one wanted to waste time reading some garbage they couldn't understand off a list in the middle of the zombie apocolypse.

When she saw her cousin pouting by the truck, Katie smiled. Unlike her husband, the boy was deperate to get out and see some action. They had breifly entertained the idea of bringing him along, but 12 was just to young to be considered for such a dangerous job, even if he was the size of a grown man. Katie's uncle Tom stopped near the truck and pulled his son in for a hug, though lately the boy had been acting like he was far too old for such affections.

"You're not going," Tom told the boy again before he could even start up again with his relentless begging.

"We need you and the twins here in case something goes wrong," Katie reminded him. "We should be back in a few hours. But if we are not back by tomorrow, you, Greg and Gannon need to come looking for us on the place we showed you on the map." The boy nodded, the idea of being given an important task lessening the hurt of being left home while his dad and cousins went out on what he considered to be a big adventure.

Katie tiptoed up to hug the boy and then let go so her sister could do the same. At the rate he was going, he was going to be bigger than even his father, who was the largest man Katie had ever seen. Davis stepped in and gave the boy a pat on the back, wishing he could trade places with him and stay home. They were not even in the truck yet and he could feel the panic rising up inside him. Going out in public had never really been his thing, even before the world was filled with dead cannibals. He had always been more than happy to stay here at the ranch and let Katie go out with her sister. But now he didn't have a choice. As scared as he was, if he let Katie go out there alone and something happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

Before he could lose his nerve, Davis yanked the door to the truck open and jumped inside. Tom gave another snort. When he passed by Katie on his way over to the drivers seat, he leaned close to her.

"If he chickens out and does something stupid out there," he warned Katie, "I am kicking his fucking ass when we get back." Katie rolled her eyes at him and got into the truck, making Davis slide over to sit behind the drivers seat. She reached over to take her husband's hand in hers. The fear was radiating out of him in waves and she could tell he was on the verge of a panic attack.

"I love you," she told him, "You are braver than you know. You can do this, I know you can." She said the words she knew he needed to hear, but even Katie wasn't sure if she believed them.


	2. Chapter 2

Made for this World

Chapter 2

Three days. At any given time in life we are all only three days from complete and total anarchy.

This might seem like an unreasonably short amount of time. But Roberta Warren knew better than most people just how true the statement was. She had been in the national guard most of her adult life. Despite the obvious hurdles of being black and a woman, she had worked her way up the ranks and was now a first lieutenant. Her unit had been one of the first to respond after Hurricane Katrina. Within three days the citizens of New Orleans had descended into anarchy, looting and murdering each other. When her unit showed up a few days later, people had been killing and eating dogs to stay alive.

The difference between Katrina and the current state of affairs was that this crisis was nationwide. As far as she knew, it might be worldwide. Perhaps geographically isolated places like Australlia might have fared better, but that wasn't going to help her. Within the three days it took the residents of New Orleans to start going hungry, this time all communication had completely broken down. She had been unable to get anyone on the phone, not even on the military secure line. There were wild videos circulating on the internet and the reports on the news were getting more and more disturbing.

Some of the bigwigs had been rushed off into the night a few days before, leaving Roberta as the ranking officer at the national guard base she was stationed at. She did what she thought should be done. A hospital area was set up for injured civilians. People were offered medical care, food and shelter. The base seemed safe. Impenetrable. But in the end the zombie virus had swept through the place like a tidal wave. Complete chaos erupted within a few hours after the first person with an infected bite died and turned.

Roberta was not especially proud of what she did during the chaos. She shot people. Friends and coworkers that she had known for years. They had not been themselves at the time, and she understood later that what she had done for them was a mercy. But her instinct at the time had been to kill first and ask questions later. She took a vehicle. A large truck with four wheel drive. A bag full of emergency food bars. Two large cases of water and several empty gas cans. Plus as many extra weapons as she could carry.

She peeked into the windows of the infirmary to see if she might be able to take some medical supplies. The place was completely overrun. That was when she saw Addy. Fighting off zombies with a metal tray. Slamming them over their heads before they had a chance to bite her. Her crazy red hair flying around her as her boots slipped on the blood and gore under her feet. Roberta knew she ought to forget the girl and leave. Save her own skin. But how hard the girl was fighting for her life, that resonated with Roberta deep inside her core.

Roberta shot out the window and kicked the rest of the glass out of the frame.

"THIS WAY!," she screamed to the red haired girl. The girl didn't hesitate. She slammed the tray into the walker closest to her and ran for the window. Roberta head shot the ones that were following behind the girl. They both climbed into her stolen truck and Roberta slammed it into drive.

"I'm Addy," the girl told her once they were out of the camp and out on the open road. Now that she was up a little closer, Roberta could see she was more of a young woman than a girl. High school or maybe even college age. Her hair was crayon red and twisted into dread locks in the back. She had a silver chain dangling from her hand that she reached behind her head to fasten around her neck. It had a butterfly charm on it. Roberta introduced herself and told Addy her plans. She was not going to report to another national guard base as her training had taught her to do. She was going home to find her husband. Addy didn't have any family to look for. Her mother and little brother had died back in the camp infirmary. At the time Addy told Roberta all this in a calm and detached tone. Like she was talking about the weather. The crying came a few days later, after her nightmares started.

It took the women two more weeks to make it to Castle Point. Roberta's hometown. She checked her house first. There was a half drunk cup of coffee on the kitchen counter that had mold growing on the top of it. The first sign that her husband had not been there in quite some time. In the living room there was a large puddle of what looked like dried blood on the floor and the coffee table was broken into a million pieces. Dribbles of blood led to the front door, which was hanging open.

Until that point, Roberta didn't let herself think that anything might have happened to Antoine. He was a firefighter. He was strong. The toughest bastard she knew. And he had emergency medical training. She stared at the large spot of blood for a long time. Addy shut the front door and checked the rest of the house to make sure it was empty while Roberta sat down in her husband's favorite chair and cried. The chair smelled like him.

She cried and Addy turned on the television flipping through the stations one a time. NBC was still showing the emergency broadcast signal, but all the other stations weren't even bothering with that anymore. They showed nothing but static or a rainbow of multicolored lines. Addy turned the tv off. Then only reason it was even working was because of the solar panels on the roof that Roberta's husband had invested in to help cut down on the cost of heating their pool. They ate food from Roberta's meager pantry and slept the night in her living room.

The next morning Roberta woke up with renewed hope. If he wasn't at home, she figured maybe Antoine was at the fire station. That was where he was trained to go in case of an emergency. Before she and Addy left, Roberta twisted open the back of a fancy picture frame and took her wedding picture, folding it up to fit it into the cargo pocket of her pants.

Addy drove them to the fire station, with Roberta riding shotgun and playing navigator. The place looked deserted as soon as they pulled up. Addy reached over and squeezed her arm, trying to offer the only friend she had left in the world what little comfort she could. The two women got their guns out and went in. And that was when they met Cassandra.

The first floor was a mess. They found no one and nothing of use. When Roberta opened up the door to the kitchen to walk through and head to the stairs that led up to the second floor, a crazed dark haired woman leaped out at them. She plowed into Addy, knocking her to the floor where she started trying to choke her. Roberta yanked the much smaller and lighter woman off her friend and pushed her up against the wall, ordering her to calm down. She was lucky she hadn't got shot in the face, scaring the shit out of people like that.

"Are they out there?," the woman asked, her dark eyes darting around the room.

"Who?," Roberta asked her.

"Some men," Cassandra explained, "A bunch of them. They were chasing me. I hid in here." She was breathing hard and fast, looking like she might try to fight Roberta off and run. At that explanation, suddenly the sound of gunshots could be heard from outside the building. Not right outside, but close enough to cause concern.

"That's them!," the dark haired woman hissed. Like Roberta thought, the woman tried to kick her and run, but Addy was ready. She grabbed the other women.

"We have a truck outside. Guns. Don't be stupid, you can come with us," she hissed back at the woman they had only just met. There was never a question. She had learned already that there was safety in numbers. Neither Addy or Roberta would have made it this far alone. The woman hesitated a moment and then nodded.

"We need to go for the truck, right now," Roberta ordered. And they did. The men outside were closer than she expected. And there were a lot of them. But none of them were as good a shot as her. She shot the two that were standing openly in the street, sending the rest ducking for cover. Then the women leaped into the truck and hauled ass out of there, putting as much distance between themselves and those men as they could as quickly as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Made for this World

Chapter 3

The hand Davis was using to grip his gun was getting slicker and slicker with sweat. Katie was watching him from the corner of her eye, trying not to stare since she knew that would make his anxiety worse. He kept switching the gun to his other hand and wiping his right hand on his pants. There was a damp sweat stain starting on the side of the thigh in the spot where he kept wiping.

The drive took about a half hour. Katie was watching her sister. The woman had her pale red hair tied back into a tight braid. She kept turning back and glancing at Davis. Katie was repeating a silent prayer in her mind. _Please don't say anything to him. Please Mandy just keep your mouth shut and please don't say anything to him._ Her prayers seemed to work, because other than throwing Davis a few dirty looks that he didn't even see because he was too busy looking out his window for possible danger, Mandy left her brother in law alone.

They pulled up outside the large big box store. It was the type of place where a person could buy almost anything they wanted, and buy it in bulk. It also had a pharmacy in the back, which Katie was hoping had not been totally cleared out yet. They needed some staple food items. Mostly sugar and flour and shortening. But what they needed the most was medicine. Antibiotics and pain killers were at the top of the list, but they would take anything they could find. Katie was still nursing her infant son, so she was hoping to find some pre-natal vitamins.

Tom stopped the truck, the movement and noise of the vehicle immediately attracting the attention of several of the not so dead dead people they had seen on the news. Mandy and Tom had gone out a few times before, mostly just to drive around the perimeter of the compound they lived in and make sure there were no breaches in the outer wall. They had seen and taken down a few walkers. Katie and Davis had not.

"Remember, it's got to be a head shot," Mandy reminded her sister, "nothing else stops them." Katie nodded. Then she got out of her door and lifted up her hunting rifle. None of the dead were too close to them yet, and she found they moved much slower than she expected. She got the first one in her sights and pulled the trigger. Rotted brains blew out the back of it's skull and the dead man slumped to the ground.

"Good one," her uncle said, encouraging her. This is why they brought Katie even though she really should have stayed at home with her baby. She was a great shot. Always had been. Katie took only a second to nod at the man before she got the next walker in her sights. One by one she cleared their path into the store.

"It's clear, let's go," Mandy said. Katie nodded and tightened the straps on her mostly empty backpack. The three of them were ready to go, but Davis was still in the truck. Tom poked his head in and told the man to hurry up and come on. They only had a limited window of time to get into the store before more dead would come. And they only had so many bullets.

"Just go without me," Davis whined, "I can stay and watch the truck." Katie moved forward, ready to coax the man out of the truck, but her uncle pushed her back with one of his giant pawlike hands. Then he yanked the backdoor of the double cab truck open and reached inside. He grabbed Davis by the shirt and dragged the frightened man from the truck. His glasses fell onto the ground and Katie reached down quickly to scoop them up before they got broken. Tom kept ahold of Davis's shirt, shoving him up against the side of the truck and putting his face so close that their foreheads were touching.

"You better man up and stop being such a pussy or I will beat your ass and leave you here for the dead," Tom hissed at the man, "you understand me?" Davis nodded his head. He felt his feet return to solid ground and then Katie was shoving his glasses back onto his face. Mandy got behind him and shoved him towards the store.

Katie threw a disgusted look at her uncle behind Davis's back. The big man gave her an apologetic shrug. He didn't want to be mean and nasty to Davis. Unlike Mandy, he had always liked the man. Davis treated his neice Katie like a princess. He wrote her poems, painted her toenails for her, made her breakfast in bed. The fact that he was a bit of a coward and refused to even kill spiders in his own house had never seemed to matter. Until now. There came a time to man up. And now was that time. Tom only said what he felt he had to in order to get the man moving. He would never really hurt Davis or leave him here. Mandy might. But not him.

Tom used a bolt cutter to get them into the building. The light was dim and filtering in only through the front windows. But they had flashlights. They went for the pharmact first. But the place was locked up like fort knox. Tom had a crowbar but the damn door wouldn't budge an inch. Finally Mandy yanked him back and made him stop. He was making too much noise.

"We are going for the baking aisle," Mandy said, "get what you can from the over the counter stuff. We can come back with more tools next time." Katie nodded, her flashlight bobbing up and down slightly with her movements.

"We should all stay together," Davis insisted. Katie slung her gun over her shoulder and grabbed him by the elbow.

"We're fine," she assured him, "come on and help me." Davis let her pull him along. She got two empty garbage bags out of her backpack and handed one to Davis. Putting the flashlight between her teeth, Katie started down the aisle, filling her bag with things she thought would be useful. Davis's hands were shaking so badly, he kept dropping the things he was trying to pick up. Then he dropped his flashlight. Katie finished putting a case of tylenol in her bag and stopped, heading for her husband. She set her bag down quietly and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips to his.

"You are so brave," she lied, "let's just finish this up and then we can go home." He held onto her like she was a floatation cushion and he was drowning. "I love you," she added.

"I love you too," he finally said. There was so much more he wanted to say. Mostly that he was sorry he wasn't braver. Stronger. He was sorry he was such a coward. Just the thought of having to kill one of those things sent him into a state of paralyzing fear.

"Let's get this done," Katie said again, wiggling out of his embrace. She was suddenly reminded of the day she met the boy that later became the man in front of her now. He was new to her school. And from some place called _up north._ He talked funny, like a weirdo sissy. At least that's what the other boys said. But Katie liked him. She thought he was sweet. When he saw her admiring his pencil collection, he had given her a sparkly blue one with a white eraser and told her she was prettier than the pencil.

On the playground later, the other boys decided to see what the new boy was made of. Not an uncommon game for southern boys from a small town to play. Katie was swinging when she heard the crying. She leaped off the swing, landing on her feet in the hard packed dirt under the crabgrass. It didn't take her long to spot them. There was a small circle of boys, and in the center, one of them was on top of the new boy, smacking and pinching him. Davis was crying. His glasses were on the ground next to him, the frames broken.

Katie shoved through the crowd and walked right up to the bigger boy that was on top of the much smaller one, making him cry. She tapped the big bully on the shoulder and when he turned to look at her she socked him right in the face. Busted his lip wide open and cut her knuckles on his teeth. The boy fell down on his back, crying and holding his face. She helped Davis to his feet before she turned to face the other boys.

"Any o'you want some?," she asked them, holding up her small bloody fist in the air. The boys shook their heads and scattered away. Katie's older sister's reputation helped her then, as it had a few times before. No one wanted to mess with Mandy's little sister. Especially not when she seemed quite fierce in her own right.

Katie had a little sweater on over her dress and she pulled it off, handing it to Davis so he could clean up his face. He thanked her through his tears and mopped up his face. That was when he saw his glasses were broken and started crying all over again. He looked so sad and scared. Later, after she met his mother Katie would understand why. But at the moment all she felt was empathy for the boy. She found herself throwing her arms around him, blood from her knuckles staining the back of his shirt. Being hugged by Davis just felt right. And there in the abandoned store, holding him still felt just as good as the first time. Just because he was afraid, it didn't mean he loved her less.

Katie went back to filling her bag, trying to take what she thought they needed most. Cold and Flu medicine, anything that could be used for pain relief or to bring down a fever. She stocked up on baby medicine too, thinking she might need it for her son at some point, though she hated to think about her sweet little baby ever getting sick.

Davis dropped his flashlight again. Katie wasn't alarmed by the noise, he had already dropped the thing twice already. But when she turned to look at him, the horrified expression on his face scared the shit right out of her. Davis wasn't looking at her, he was looking behind her. And then his finger slowly rose up to point.

Katie spun, grabbing her gun. But it was too late. The walker was already on her. Her feet tangled in the plastic garbage bag that she had dropped on the ground and she fell backwards, landing hard on one hip with the zombie on top of her. Her gun fell next to her, but she couldn't grab it without letting go, and she needed both hands to keep the monster's mouth away from her face.

"Davis!," she screamed, "get the gun." Davis darted forward and picked up her rifle, though he had a perfectly good handgun on his hip that he seemed to have forgotten was there. He aimed down at the thing that was on top of his wife.

"No!," Katie yelled, "You'll shoot me! Hit it in the head instead, use the butt of the gun!" She was struggling, trying to shift her weight and knock the dead man off her. Her nose and mouth felt like they were filled with the rotting smell of death and decay. Davis lifted the gun above his head, like he was ready to bring it down in a smashing motion. But then he hesitated.

"Hurry Davis," Katie begged, "Help me!" Davis stood there, like he was hypnotized by what was going on at his feet. Then he took a step back. Katie was confused by what she was seeing. There was no way her husband was not going to help her. She knew he was scared, but he couldn't be so afraid that he was willing to let this monster eat her alive. Davis took another step back. Then he dropped the gun and ran.


	4. Chapter 4

Made for this World

Chapter 4

Cassandra was sleeping in the backseat. Her dark hair was twisted into a tangled braid that hung down over one shoulder and her forehead rested against the window as her breath left a small round ring of fog on the glass. Addy looked close to joining the other woman in her slumber. And Roberta wasn't feeling much more alert herself. She took one hand off the steering wheel and rubbed at her face, trying to wake herself up. What they all needed was one good night of sleep. Or some coffee. The last of the energy drinks that had snagged from the last gas station was long gone. Facing the apocolype without coffee was even worse than the smell of the undead masses that roamed the streets where people used to conduct their normal daily lives.

The mission was to find Roberta's husband. But after their visit to the fire station, she had given up all but one last tiny thread of hope that she would ever see the man again. And that thread she buried deep down inside her. After her hometown, she and her two female companions drove around aimlessly for a few days, just trying to put miles between them and the group of men that had tried to assualt Cassandra. They found a small out of the way gas station that still had some gas left. Roberta filled up the tank and as many cans as they could find. Now the inside of the truck faintly reeked of gas, making it harder to sleep inside it without the windows down.

The three women camped inside the store for a few days, resting and trying to figure out what their next move would be. Roberta knew what they needed. A mission. A goal to work towards. She needed it too. It was maddening just sitting in an abandoned gas station, wondering if this was where she was going to live out the rest of her days. If this was where she was finally going to die.

Most military bases fell early. Like hers. But there was one that they had managed to catch broadcasts from on a short rave radio Addy found in the gas station and rigged up. Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Roberta knew there was a good chance the fort was already gone. Overrun. That they might just be hearing some sort of recorded message that no one had bothered to turn off. But then again, there was a chance it was still standing. She had more faith in the military than most.

Most importantly, they had nothing to lose. If she and the other girls got to Fort Bragg and it was nothing but a burnt down hole in the ground, they would be no worse off than they were sitting in a gas station eating stale candy bars.

Roberta had been right. The effects were obvious as soon as they got back on the road. Even she felt more hopeful. Instead of talking about what they were going to do to stay alive another day, they were talking about the fort and what they thought they might find when they go there.

"Wake up," Roberta said, reaching over and grasping Addy by the arm to shake her from her restless slumber. Addy came to, instinctively reaching for her gun. Any sudden noise was enough to send them all groping for their weapons. But for once looming danger was not the reason Roberta had woken her friend.

"Look," she said, slowing the car down and pointing ahead. There was a large green sign with a red, white, and blue flag on it. The sign said Welcome to NORTH CAROLINA, nation's most military friendly state. Sure there was some old dried blood smeared across the bottom of the sign. It was still the most hopeful and inviting thing they had seen in at least a week. Addy leaned forward, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Once her eyes focused on what she was being shown, she cracked a big smile. Then she turned around in her seat and gave Cassandra a healthy shake to wake her up.

The woman startled awake just as Addy had done, reaching for her gun as her leg shot straight out, kicking into the seat in front of her.

"Whathefuck!," she cursed once she was awake enough to realize they were not about to be eaten by a pack of undead cannibals.

"The state sign!," Addy said, rolling down her window and pointing out, "we're here! North Carolina!" Cassandra went from pissed off and tired to a state of excitment that only someone who was running on about five hours of sleep out of the last 48 could get to that quickly. She lurched forward and hugged Roberta, then hugged Addy. Then hugged her again. She looked like she might be ready to cry.

"I am so fucking tired you guys," she admitted once she finally leaned back in her seat. Tired and hungry is what she was. They had plenty of water. But almost no food. Yesterday they had split a granola bar between the three of them for dinner.

The highway looked promising up ahead though. There was a big traffic snarl in the other side of the highway. And traffic jams were a good place to find food and supplies. Roberta drove them a little closer, past the welcome to North Carolina sign. Then she pulled over and parked the car.

"Always in my line of vision," Roberta reminded the other women. Both of them nodded. That was one of their rules. They never left each other's sight. For safety. It had kept them alive so far. Plus, Roberta had a sniper rifle. The gun was not just for show. She was an impressive shot with it. Addy and Cassandra stayed where she could see them in case she needed to use the gun to protect them.

They climbed out of the car feeling hopeful. A few hours later they came climbing back in feeling dejected. Nothing to show for their efforts except for a few bottles of fancy flavored water, cigarettes none of them smoked, and one box of goldfish crackers. Someone of a group of someones had already been here before them. The cars were all cleared out. And whoever it was had done a good job of searching. They didn't even find much under the seats or in the glove boxes.

Roberta shrugged off her bloodstained military jacket and replaced it with a demin one in her size. While the cars had been void of food and water, there had been plenty of women's clothing to choose from. Cassandra wiggled her jeans down and pulled on a new pair of cargo pants.

"How are we on gas?," she asked. Roberta shrugged, which was never a good sign. Low on gas. Out of food. It was not looking good for the small group of survivors.

"Could try that place," Addy suggested, pointing at one of the large billboards that decorated the sides of the highway. This one advertised a big box store that had 'everything you need for one stop shopping'. The sign said it was only 3 miles west of the highway. "I mean even if the store was hit already there's no way everything could be gone...," she added, trying to sound more hopeful than she felt. They were not going to make it all the way to Fort Bragg with nothing to eat.

"Got nothing to lose," Roberta said, smiling at the other woman.

Cassandra popped the top off a bottle of champagne, taking a long swig before she passed the bottle to Roberta. She tossed back a few healthy swallows, ignoring the moaning of the zombies below. Her first thought had been to clear the store of the undead completely. Leaving a few of them hanging around had been Addy's idea. Guard dogs, she called them. They had blocked off the side entrance they got into the store through, but if anyone started in on any of the other doors, the dead would hear them and the women would have some kind of warning. Plus, anyone who came looking would be less likely to think there were people hiding inside the store if there were still dead inside.

"We have enough to get us to Fort Bragg now," Roberta mentioned, looking down from the top of the high shelf they were sitting on.

"Forget the Fort," Addy announced, "we should just stay here." She was joking. But once the words were out of her mouth, she realized staying at the store might not be such a bad idea. There was years worth of food and liquor. Medication. Clothing and even some camping gear. There were even mattresses and bedding. She was already imagining it in her mind. The Z's didn't climb. So they could make their home on top of the high wide shelving units. Maybe even build a few bridges so they could get around the store without ever touching the ground.

"That's not a half bad idea," Roberta said. She was still holding out hope that Fort Bragg was still functional, but she was tired of being on the road. Cassandra laughed at them both, the bottle of beer she had before she cracked open the champagne already having an effect on her.

"You're both drunk," she informed them. They all laughed at that, including Cassandra. For the first time in what felt like a really long time they had full bellies and even enough extra water that they had been able to wash up a little. After a little more small chat and a lot more laughter, the girls finished off the bottle of sparkling wine and laid down on their sleeping bags for the first full night of sleep they had in a week.

Addy could tell she had slept late. She woke up with a throbbing bladder and Roberta's hand over her mouth. The woman let go and whispered into Addy's ear for her to keep quiet. There were other people in the store.


	5. Chapter 5

Made for this World

Chapter 5

Katie kicked her legs, the rubber soles of her converse sneakers squeaking on the laminate floor under her. The flashlight Davis had dropped when he ran was rolling away, causing a unsettling strobe effect on her as she struggled with the undead man on top of her. Teeth. That's all she could see. Whoever this person used to be, he had a gap between his two front teeth and there was a chunk of rotten flesh caught between them.

The smell of stinking decomposing flesh was overpowering. Katie's hormones were still out of whack from giving birth to her son and the smell was more than she could bear. As she struggled, she was also fighting back the vomit that was threatening to bubble up out of her. Somewhere in the confused back of her mind that was watching the fight in slow motion, unable to believe that Davis had run off and left her she was thinking about what she had for breakfast. Steel cut oatmeal with brown sugar and cream. Fenugreek tea to help her milk supply. The tea smelled like black licorice and she had to gulp it down with her nose plugged and dump the rest down the drain while her gran wasn't looking. She didn't need to have to taste that again.

Her forearm was pressed against the monster's head, pushing up against the weight of the dead man and the added weight of gravity. Davis was coming back. Maybe he just went for another weapon. He was scared. He would change his mind and come back. The dead man snapped at her, coming within inches of the soft round flesh of her cheek. Katie was fumbling blindly with her other hand, trying to reach for anything she could use to kill the monster on top of her. Her feet squeaked on the floor again as she tried to get some traction. If she could dig in with her heels, she knew she might be able to throw the dead man off her with a hard thrust of her hips.

He's not coming back.

It hit her like a those cars in the safety commercials hit the brick walls. Crash test dummies flying forward out of their seats and smashing into peices against the windshield. Davis. He wasn't coming back. He was going to let her die in here because he was too afraid to help her. They should have brought her cousin instead. Tommy was only twelve but even he would have fought to save her.

"MANDY! TOM! HELP ME!," Katie screamed. Along with the realization that Davis was not coming back came her survival instinct. Her screams echoed through the store. And sooner than she expected, Katie heard the hard trample of feet coming down the aisle in her direction. All she saw was the bat. Aluminum with spikes built into the end of it. It hit the zombie on top of her so hard that it's brains splattered out across the rows of over the counter cough medicine that were on the shelf next to her head.

A hand came next, slim with chipped purple polish on the nails. Katie reached up to grasp it and was helped out from under the heavy dead body on top of her. She scrambled to her feet, trying to brush the stink off her. Looking down, she realized that sometime during the struggle she had peed her pants. Along with an increase in her sense of smell had come a decrease in her bladder control. All part of the joys of motherhood. In front of her was a woman with long fiery red hair that was twisted into roping dreads. The woman had the bat she had used to save Katie propped up on her shoulder now, looking Katie up and down. Assessing her.

Katie looked down at her wet crotch, her feelings of embarassment mixed up with the pure joy she felt to still be alive. She smiled at the woman in front of her. Then she looked down and her crotch again and started laughing. The red haired woman stared at her like she was crazy for a few more seconds before she started laughing along with her.

"Addy," she said extending her hand once more.

"Katie." Katie grasped Addy's hand, holding it with both of hers. She wanted to hug this woman. Her savior. But she didn't want to scare her new friend away. Strangers were to be feared in this new world, even more than they were in the old one. She decided to wait until they were slightly better aquainted before she went in for a hug.

Two more women appeared in the aisle behind Addy. One was more petite than the other. In the limited lighting it was hard for Katie to tell if she was asian or hispanic or perhaps a mixture of both. The taller woman was black, her hair was long and hung over her shoulder in a messy braid. She was dressed in plain clothes, but something about the way she moved had Katie guessing that she was either police or military. They were both as pretty as their red haired companion.

Katie smiled at them, lifting her hand to give them a small wave of greeting. The black woman lifted her gun. For a moment, Katie thought she was aiming at her, but she quickly realized the woman was aiming behind her. At her giant uncle Tom. Standing at over six foot five with his flaming red hair and beard, he cut quite an intimidating first impression. Mandy was next to him, less imtimidating but one thousand times more lethal.

Holding her hand up, Katie signalled Mandy to lower her weapon. Reluctantly, the woman pointed her gun at the ground. Katie breathed a little easier when she saw Addy's companions did the same.

"They helped me," Katie quickly explained to her family members. That seemed to satisfy Mandy and she shoved her gun back into the holster on her thigh. After some only slightly awkward introductions, Mandy quickly noticed that someone from their group was suspiciously missing.

"Where's your husband?," Mandy asked. She often referred to him as Your Husband. Like that was his name. Like he was a dog or something. Katie stuttered, trying to think up an excuse for the man. Nothing was coming to mind. Mandy could see the shame and utter sadness in her sister's face. If that wasn't enough to give her a good guess as to what had happened, Addy spoke up.

"That guy that took off and left you?," she said. Her tone was one of absolute bewilderment. "That was your husband?" She shook her head.

"He took off and left you?," Mandy asked. Katie was still at a loss for words, the tears starting to well up in her eyes. Mandy didn't wait for an answer, she spun on her heel and started towards the front door of the store. She was beating that chicken ass this time and she didn't care if Katie begged her not to. Before she could get too far, her uncle caught her by the arm.

"Not the time," he hissed at her, nodding towards the woman they just met. Mandy ground her teeth, her body tense with anger. Katie was sniffing now, her tears and nose running. She had her shirt pulled up, trying to mop up her face with it. Her pants were wet with urine and her bra was soaked through with breast milk. Overall she looked like a sloppy postpartum mess. Mandy forgot her anger towards Davis for the moment and pulled Katie into a tight hug, patting the woman softly on her back. Katie had a hard delivery and it had not been too long ago. Her body was still recovering. Mandy remembered how unbalanced she felt after she had her daughter. And that had been back before there were dead cannibals roaming around.

"Lets just get what we came for and get out of here," Mandy said. Katie knew what that meant. Suck it up for a little longer and cry when we get home. She wiped up her face and leaned down, picking up her flashlight and gun off the ground. Katie pushed her hair back out of her face and nodded her head, trying to look more put together than she felt.

"Do you live near here?," Katie asked the women. With their lack of southern accents, she doubted they were from the area. But maybe they had holed up somewhere nearby. The three women exchanged glances with each other, but it was Roberta that edged forward and answered the question. Despite the man that had run off and left his wife to become a zombie snack, her instinct was to trust these people.

"For now we're living here," Roberta admitted.

"In this store?," Katie asked, her voice turning motherly with worry for the women to whom she owed her life. "You can't live in a store. Y'all are coming home with us."

Addy smiled, then tried to hide her smile. She liked how Katie didn't invite them, but simply demanded that they come to live with her as though there was no other choice. Southern hospitality at it's best.

"We were on our way to Fort Bragg," Roberta informed them. Unlike Addy, she was hesitant to accept what she considered to be charity from complete strangers.

"Fort's gone," Tom said. He had a simple matter a fact way of speaking. "Picked up some folks a week ago. Came from there. Dead everywhere." Katie saw the disappointment in Roberta's face. She knew then that the woman had really believed that the Fort would still be standing.

"We don't want to impose," Roberta said. Actually she did want to impose. Rather badly. They were desperate for a safe place to live. There was food and water at the store, but it was only a matter of time before a bigger and rougher group came through and they would all be goners. What she wanted to do was make sure that these people were serious about taking them in. Roberta wanted to give them an out.

"We live on a farm," Katie explained with a smile, "More people to help ease the workload are never an imposition." That made Roberta smile. She knew she was being slightly manipulated, but since it was only being done to make her feel better she didn't really mind. She no longer felt like she was taking a free handout. Instead she felt like she was making a friend.


	6. Chapter 6

Made For This World

Chapter 6

The decision to leave the keys in the truck in case they needed to leave in a rush turned out to be a bad one. Katie pounded on the glass, begging and pleading with her husband to unlock the truck. The dead were getting closer. Close enough that everyone was starting to panic. And endless rotting sea of walking corpses just kept coming from around both sides of the building. They didn't have enough ammunition to take out that many zombies even if they wanted to stay and fight, which they definitely did not.

"Davis, look at me," Katie hollered, no longer able to keep her voice calm and coaxing, "Open the truck or we are all going to die out here!" Her hand hurt from pounding it on the glass and her shirt and pants were still uncomfortably wet. "DAVIS! OPEN THE DOOR!" Davis looked up at her, lifting his head from his knees, which were smashed against his chest, his arms wrapped around them as he rocked back and forth in the middle of the backseat. He focused on Katie's face and looked for a moment like he might reach over and unlock the door. But then he saw the swirling sea of rotting corpses fanning out behind her. The man buried his head back into his arms.

"Get back!," Tom hollered. He yanked Katie away and shoved her towards the back of the truck. Stepping on top of the back wheel, Katie pulled herself up with her hands on the edge of the cab. Roberta and Addy grasped her under the armpits and pulled her the rest of the way up into the bed of the pickup truck. Cassandra was trying to pry the back window of the cab open but it was locked.

Tom lifted his gun and slammed the butt of it into the front passenger window. One. Two. Three hard slams before the window smashed in. Then he reached inside and hit the button for the power locks, opening all the doors. The dead were so close he couldn't risk running around to climb inside the other door. Roberta and Katie were shooting at the ones that were getting too close for comfort. Tom had to climb in and crawl over the glass, cutting his thighs and hands up in the process. Mandy shut the door behind him before she climbed into the back seat with Davis.

When the engine of the truck roared to life the women in the back made sure to sit down and hang onto something to keep from being tossed out as Tom smached his foot down on the gas pedal and tore out of the parking lot. The food and supplies they had loaded into the truck while Katie was pleading with Davis to open the door slid around. Roberta braced a large stacked pile of sugar bags with her feet to keep them from falling over and landing on top of her.

Katie gripped the egde of the truck, her knuckles white as she tried to hold and on keep from being tossed all over the place. There was a semi clear path out of the lot, but Tom had to run over a few dead once he got onto the main road. That made for a bumpy ride. Katie heard a few loud swears. When she realized what was happening inside the cab of the truck, she let go of the side and started pounding on the back window. Her sister was in the backseat beating the tar out of her husband.

"Mandy! Amanda!," Katie yelled. Her voice was getting hoarse. She was thirsty and tired and had screamed too much already today. "Stop it! You're hurting him! Mandy stop!" Mandy was on top of the man, pounding her fists into him. Hitting him in the body since he had his arms up to protect his face. Through the window Katie could see his glasses on the floor of the truck, already broken.

Tom decided he had enough of Mandy's little display in the back seat. If anything, Katie was going to hurt herself trying to make the woman stop. He reached behind himself, driving the truck with one hand. The man groped around until he got a grip on the first part of his older niece that he came into contact with, which unfortunately happened to be her hair. Pulling hard, he dragged her off the man and half over the backseat before she stopped fighting.

"You're pulling all my goddamn hair out," she screamed, letting Davis alone to try and claw at her Uncle's hand.

"If I let go, are you gonna stop?," he asked, giving her one more hard yank so she knew he meant buisness.

"Yes!," she quickly agreed, "Lemme go!" Tom let go, dropping her back down into the backseat of the truck. Amanda huffed out her displeasure, pulling her ponytail holder the rest of the way out to assess the damage that had been done to her hair. She didn't hit Davis again, but she did smack at his feet to get them away from her. Then she swore and spit on the man, telling him exactly what she though about his cowardly behavior.

"You don't deserve my sister," she hissed, "you piece of chicken shit."

Since the fight in the backseat had stopped, Katie sat back down. Her face was streaked with dirt and tears. And the three other women in the back of the truck with her were looking like they weren't so sure any more about their choice to leave the store and come home with such a disfunctional family unit.

"I'm sorry," Katie told them, "We're not always this crazy, I swear." Actually Mandy was always crazy, but usually someone was able to reign her in before she went totally psycho. Katie felt a hand on her knee. Not grabbing, but just a soft touch of friendly reassurance. Roberta smiled at her before she pulled her hand back.

"You should see my family at Thanksgiving sometime," she joked. Katie gave her a grateful smile. Roberta smiled back for another second before her face turned serious. "He's never coming on a run with us again," she announced, using her thumb to point at the crying man inside the cab. Katie just nodded. She had been naive and stupid to bring Davis with them in the first place. Just because he was a man, that didn't automatically make him fit for physical combat with undead cannibals.

"There's an us now?," Katie asked. A few moments before she had been sure these women were ready to bail out of the truck and take their chances with the dead. Now Roberta was talking about them going on another run together.

Roberta didn't answer, she just gave the other woman a nod. This woman's husband seemed like a first class idiot, but the rest of these people seemed nice enough. They were the first people besides Cassandra that she and Addy had met that had not attempted to rape them or kill them dead. And Roberta was no fool. She saw the kinds of supplies they were taking from that store. Dry stock for the winter. Things that needed to be mixed with other ingredients and cooked. That led her to guess that back at whatever farm they were living at, they were much more well supplied than anyone else she had run into.

Addy tapped Robert's arm to get her attention. Then she pointed at an abandoned school that they were passing. They must have been trying to evacuate the school when things went bad because there were about a dozen school buses parked out front. Seeing them had given her an idea.

"Those buses run on diesel, don't they?," she asked. Roberta nodded, taking a look at the school Addy was pointing at as they passed by. Buses did run on diesel. And from their time on the road, they already knew diesel was much easier to come by than regular unleaded gas. The windows on the buses were high up off he ground too. Ideas started bumping around in her head. Pictures she had seen of an old school bus that some hippies modified came to mind. With a few reinforcements, they could easily keep themselves safe from the dead inside one of those buses. Roberta tapped on the window of the truck, motioning for Mandy to open up the window.

"Somethin' wrong," Mandy asked. Roberta shook her head. Nothing was wrong, she just had an idea that was too good to pass on.

"Tell your uncle to turn around and go back to that school."


	7. Chapter 7

Made for this World

Chapter 7

 ****Sorry for the long break on updating this story. I have too many WIPs going on at the same time and this one slipped through the cracks. If you are reading The Lady Claimers that one should also have an update posted tonight or tomorrow morning. ****

Katie didn't trust her sister alone in the truck with her husband. Since he was afraid to even get back out of the truck Katie basically had to drag Davis from the vehicle and shove him up the bus steps ahead of her. He couldn't see much without his glasses on so Katie pulled him along by the hand and sat him down in an empty seat towards the front of the bus.

Roberta and Addy were trying to get the bus started. Katie knew next to nothing about car engines so she thought the best help she could give the two women was to stay out of their way. Davis was breathing heavily and clutching his sides. His lip was bleeding and there was another cut above his eye with a tiny piece of glass sticking out of it.

Katie felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned and gratefully took the first aid kit that Addy was trying to hand her. Katie guessed that most of the buses were equipt with similar kits and that if they had time they ought to try and grab a few more of them before they left. A thump against the side of the bus caught both Katie and her husband's attention and they looked out the window in time to see Addy smashing her spiked bat into the side of a rotted corpse's head. Davis shrieked and jumped back from the window, bumping into Katie and nearly knocking her off the seat. The first aid kit clattered down from her hands and it's contents spilled out onto the floor of the bus.

"It's alright," Katie told the man, "They can't get you in here." She looked down, concentrating on cleaning up the spilled first aid supplies in an attempt to avoid eye contact with the man. "We'll be home soon," Katie added, "Everything will be fine."

Davis didn't respond. He had gone back to staring at his hands and breathing so hard and fast that Katie was starting to worry he might pass out. She felt a little guilty for wishing that he would so she wouldn't have to deal with him again until they were home. But she was kind enough not voice any of her frustrations out loud.

Sitting down, Katie placed the open kit back on her lap and pulled out an alcohol wipe and a pair of tweezers. When she placed her hand on her husband's shoulder he recoiled from her touch.

"There's dirty glass sticking out of the cut on your face," Katie said. She used the soft soothing tone of voice that she usually reserved for frightened children and animals. "I've got to get it out and clean up the cuts." Davis didn't respond verbally to her urgings but he did straighten up and sit still in order to allow his wife to do what she felt was necessary.

Katie plucked the glass out of his cuts first. It wasn't from his glasses so she assumed that most of it must have come from the broken window. Davis flinched when she pulled the largest chunk out. With the glass out, Katie ripped open an alcohol wipe. She cleaned out the cuts carefully, blowing on them to keep the alcohol from stinging. Once his wounds were carefully covered with band-aids Katie sat back. Davis was staring at her like he had never seen her before in his life. Like he had gone totally insane. But after his breathing slowed down Katie saw he was able to focus on her face.

"I left you," he said. His face began to crumble and Katie could tell he was on the verge of another panic attack

"You didn't mean to," Katie assured him. She wasn't sure anymore if she was trying to convince Davis or herself. Katie leaned forward to kiss him but he shrank away from her touch.

"I'm sorry Ieft you." Davis repeated the phrase a few more times, sounding less and less like himself each time he spoke. "I'm a coward. You're better off without me, both of you," he added quietly under his breath after the last time.

Katie wasn't sure what to say. She was trying hard not to be angry about Davis running off and leaving her to be eaten alive. Every imaginable excuse she could think of for his behavior was flashing through her mind. But the truth was he had left her there. She would have died fighting for him and he just left her there. Worst of all she still loved him just as much as she had when she woke up that morning.

The engine of the bus roared to life and Katie leaped up out of her seat to cheer along with the other women. Moving forward she took a seat behind Cassandra so she could direct the woman on the fastest way to get back to her farm.

Katie ripped the collar of her shirt in her hurry to pull it down and get her son fed. He had been crying since five minutes after she left. The moment he was in her arms his high pitched baby cries subsided and he suckled eagerly at her breast. Katie was grateful to her grandmother for taking over from there. The woman got Roberta and the other two women something to eat and when they were done eating she took them away to show them where they were going to be staying.

Tom got some people together to unload the truck. So Katie was able to take her son and her husband home. She was covered in her own dried on body fluids and needed a hot shower in the worst way possible. Waiting for her son to get done eating and fall asleep felt like it took ages.

Katie sighed as she stepped under the hot stream of water. She let it run down over her face and body, soothing her tired muscles. Using the last of her favorite scented body wash she lathered up until the smell of oatmeal and honey replaced the smell of urine and death that felt like it was going to cling to her body forever after the day she had. It took three times of sccrubbing her body and scalp before she felt clean.

Katie stepped from the showed into her steamy bathroom. She wrapped a large fluffy towel around herself and opened the door that led into her bedroom, releasing a large cloud of steam out into the air. She blinked a few times, unsure of what she was seeing at first. Her son was in his basinet, still sleeping. Davis was standing over the boy, staring down at him in a hateful way that sent a chill straight up Katie's spine despite the cloud of warm humid air around her.

She hurried from the bathroom leaving wet footprints on the hardwood floor of the bedroom. But when she got closer she convinced herself that her eyes must have been playing tricks on her. Davis was staring down at her son but he had a peaceful look on his face. She wrapped her arm around the man's waist and tucked herself into his side.

"He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping," Katie murmured. Like most new mothers she was enthralled with her baby. Katie loved her son so much that she felt like she could sit and stare at him all day and be completely content. Sometimes she sat up late just to watch him sleep. She loved her family and friends but all that seemed like nothing compared to the overwhelming emotions that flooded through her every time she held her baby in her arms.

"He does look peaceful," Davis agreed, "he looks like you." He paused a moment before adding, "What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when anthrax bombs are popping all around you?"

Katie was struck silent for a moment. His words were strange but didn't sound completely unfamiliar. She had a feeling her husband was quoting something from a book. Either way she didn't care for his depressing attitude. She knew whatever disease had spread through the world was making things a little scary. But she was alive. Her husband was alive. And she had given birth to a healthy baby boy. The child they had been wishing and praying for. They had a safe place to live and plenty of food and water. She felt they ought to be counting their blessings. Not giving up all hope. She needed him to be strong for her and for their son.

"That's a horrible thing to say," she said, recoiling from the man and reaching down to scoop her son up into her arms. Davis stopped her by grasping her arm gently with one hand.

"I'm sorry," he said. He pulled Katie into his arms and she allowed him to hold her. "I'm sorry I'm not the man you thought I was," he added, holding her tighter against his chest. "We saw things... on the news... but I had no idea how bad it really was out there. There's nothing left. Nothing at all."

"We have each other," Katie reminded him. She looked up at her husband. He nodded but he didn't look convinced by her words. She put one hand on the back of his neck and pulled his head down so she could kiss him. He was wearing an old pair of glasses that he had retrieved from the back of the closet. They were still a little foggy around the edges from the long steamy shower Katie had taken. He didn't pull away from her affections but he didn't exactly respond to them either. So Katie let go of him and stepped back.

"You'll feel better after a shower," Katie told him. Davis nodded. It seemed that nodding with a blank look on his face had become his new go to response to anything she said to him. "I'll take Sebastian downstairs with me and make us some dinner," she suggested, "when you're done you can come down and join us." Katie had tried to reassure him of her feelings for him but it hadn't seemed to work. She thought maybe some time alone to sort of his thoughts might help. Katie pulled on her old worn in bathrobe and tossed her towel over the top of the door to let it dry. She lifted her son into her arms and kissed his milk scented head. Just as she was about to head out the door Davis called out her name.

"Katie?," he called. When she turned to see what he wanted he gave her a sad wistful smile. "I love you."

"I love you too," Katie answered back even though she hadn't liked the way her husband said the words. It hadn't sounded like I love you, it had sounded like goodbye. Davis smiled at her again before heading into the bathroom. Katie hovered in the bedroom doorway a moment longer, debating on whether or not she ought to go after him. Hunger won out and she headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Katie turned some quiet music on while she busied herself with making dinner. She was too hungry to make anything that would take too long to cook. So she settled on some boxed pasta and a few homemade pork sausages she had stashed away in the fridge. She started the water boiling and got the sausages frying in the pan. Her grandmother made the best italian pork sausage and Katie used a knife to cut the rounded edge of one large link. She blew on it and popped the tidbit into her mouth, chewing with her mouth mostly open to try and keep the meat from bunrning her mouth. Katie always loved to eat but nursing her son made her hungrier than normal. While she waited for the food to cook she nibbled at a bag of peeled carrots she had taken from the cripser drawer of the fridge.

As soon as Katie made herself a plate her son woke up and started to howl. She lifted him and held him against her chest with one arm, grabbing her plate with the other. The other plate of food she had fixed up for Davis she left on the counter with a large glass of red wine next to it. Katie had left a paperback book facedown on the end table next to the couch. She picked it up and started reading where she had left off, holding the book in the same hand she was using to support her son's weight and using the other to fork the cooked pasta and sausage into her mouth.

The food was good and the book was even better. Katie finished her dinner and read another chapter before she started wondering where her husband was and what was taking him so long. She set her book down, marking her place by folding the corner of the page. Katie cocked her head and listened. The shower was off. But she didn't hear any footsteps above her. She wondered if Davis had simply gone to bed and she was thinking with a grin that if he had she was totally going to eat his dinner instead of putting it in the fridge for him.

An odd creaking sound came from the stairs. Katie stood up and went to the doorway of the living room. She had lived in this house with her husband for a long time. It sounded silly but she knew what he sounded like coming down the stairs and that squeak had not sounded like him. It had scared her a little.

"Davis?," she called out, taking a tentative step into the kitchen. "Is that you?"

There was no response to her question. Katie walked back into the living room and placed her son in the playpen that her Uncle Tom had set up for her. Then she grabbed one of the metal pokers she kept near the fireplace. Katie tiptoed into the kitchen and headed for the stairs. She didn't call out again. In case someone was in her house. She didn't want them to know where she was and that she was coming for them. The squeak came from the stairs again. Katie gripped the poker tight and darted around the corner with it held up over her head.

No one was there. Katie relaxed her grip on the poker and laughed a little at herself. Then she looked up. It took her a moment for her mind to register what she saw above her. It was a pair of shoes. They were hanging down below the first break in the ceiling that lead upstairs. And they were turning. The tips of the shoes turned right, back, left and straight towards her before they turned and headed back in a clockwise circle away from her. And they weren't just any shoes. She recognized them. They were a pair of navy converse she had bought for her husband on sale at Target. She had bought a matching tiny pair for her son. Back before the end of the world when she first found out she was pregnant.

Katie hugged the wall with her body and took one step at a time. She knew she was about to see something horrible but she felt powerless to stop herself from moving towards the slowy spinning pair of sneakers. When she hit the first landing she could see him. Davis was hanging from the ceiling by a rope around his neck. He was long past dead. There was a note pinned to the front of his shirt. She felt the tears start to pool up in her eyes as she read it.

 _I wasn't made for this world._

 **** There was a quote in this chapter from the book A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. The ending was inspired by the book as well. I meant for it to be implied that Davis got the idea to kill himself by thinking about the ending of that book. This short story is a companion piece to The Lady Claimers. The other adventures of Katie and the rest of the girls can be found there. ****


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